Complementary therapies and the NMC

Abstract

COMMENT: Midwives frequently meet mothers wishing to use complementary therapies (CTs) and natural remedies (NRs), but many answer querieswithout adequate knowledge. My concerns about CTs in pregnancy are extensively documented elsewhere, but the popularity of NRs highlights an urgent need to raise midwives’ awareness of relevant accountability issues. This article offers a personal interpretation of sections from the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC)website of relevance tomidwives, using raspberry leaf tea (RLT) to illustrate concepts related to professional accountability.